Happy Birthday Jim!

My boss celebrates his 60th birthday tomorrow.  Last night, Scott and I attended a birthday party at his house.  Here we are with Jim and Wendy.  Wendy works in the office next door and comes over every day at lunch to watch soap operas with us.

Jim invited 75 people and I'm pretty sure they all showed up.  He hired a pizza truck from a local restaurant and we ate until we couldn't eat anymore.  The truck really had a brick oven inside....

Clearly, the above picture was before the party started.  

Here are some random pictures from my week:

It is so nice having mom cooking again.  She doesn't cook anything "elaborate" but, she is cooking.

Blossom is really good at begging.

The picture below was taken on our anniversary.  Scott is wearing an apron because he cooked dinner.  He made chicken and also cooked green beans and potatoes in fatback.  It was heaven.  Nothing can taste bad cooked in fatback!

I'm trying to get Mom to practice walking up and down the driveway several times a day.  Please note the cat is in the back cheering her on.  He/she is the white and gray spot on the driveway.

Balto was overdue for his 6 month checkup and needed a few vaccines.  I scheduled him for an appointment on Saturday where we found out he is now 102 pounds.  The vet says he'd like him to be "mid-90's" so... he is on a diet.  He isn't happy about it.  

The really, really tough news is that after my last post about Blossom's foot drag...I googled "Dog drags back foot" and the results could not have been worse.  If you don't believe me, google "Dog drags back foot".   We took Blossom in for another visit and the doctor  confirmed that her problem is neurological.  A radiologist was to go over her x-rays and the doctor will get back to us on Tuesday.  If the radiologist confirms his opinion, we will be referred to a neurologist.  We are heartbroken.  Blossom has all of the symptoms of Degenerative Myelopothy (DM), or "Dog ALS".  If our worst fears are confirmed, her prognosis is not good.  I've shed many tears over the past few days and you will notice that I will be posting LOTS of dog photos.  For the most part, Blossom is doing really well.  She drags her left foot most of the time now but seems to be in no pain.  "No pain" is typical of DM but she has begun to lose her balance at times and it causes her to fall.  It is very hard to watch.

Sidebar:  We missed the call from our vet with the radiologist's report yesterday.  When we immediately called back, the office had closed.  I actually saw our vet at Target today but didn't have the nerve to go ask him what the results are.  I wanted to but, I chickened out.  I have NEVER seen any of our veterinarians out in public before.  How crazy that I saw him today???!!!! 

She's still Blossom because yesterday, I found this when I got out of the shower:

Scott made Blossom an appointment WITH Balto.  Not a good idea.  They were wound up!

More photos of our weekend:

Mom and Dad were worried about Blossom so I decided to walk her over and let them see she was doing ok.

Daniel stayed at Mom and Dad's all afternoon today (Sunday).

Daniel and I walked over to my house but I forgot I had locked the door.  Blossom and Balto (you can't see Balto) were fussing at us for not coming inside...

I took them both with me to make sure Mom had taken her night pills.  She has a tendency to forget to take her nighttime pills.  Dad was making a ham and cheese sandwich.

Blossom was glad to get home and see her dad.

Balto is on the daybed beside me as I type this post.  I'm not sure what he is dreaming about but he is running in his sleep and it is shaking the bed.  I hope he is chasing that squirrel that I saw stealing tomatoes from my garden tonight.

Here's to a good week for everyone!